James Gandolfini legacy, loss felt throughout South Jersey

It came as a surprise to the Garden State that one of its own died maybe a bit too soon. Though he was a native of Bergen County, James Gandolfini’s legacy was felt throughout the entire state this week.

The actor, most famous for playing New Jersey mafia boss Tony Soprano, died on Wednesday, shortly before 10 p.m. (Italian time) in Rome, Italy. He was attending a film festival.

Gandolfini was best known for his work on HBO’s “The Sopranos," as well as two groundbreaking documentaries about American soldiers experiencing post traumatic stress disorder after their experiences in war.

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“I just went and bought the box set and watched them again,” he joked.

As far as his career in film, Cerrito owes it in part to Gandolfini.

“He has undoubtedly impacted my career as a filmmaker,” he said, noting that his current film is a thriller horror film involving the mafia.

“A lot of techniques and things that happen (in the film) are taken from what I learned from watching James Gandolfini play Tony Soprano.”

The moment was relatively candid, yesterday, when Cerrito and his director of photography Cameron S. Mitchell and producer Vincent Cerrito were scouting locations for the film.

Cerrito kept referencing “The Sopranos” during the location scouting for the film he is currently directing.

“An hour later, I heard of his passing,” Cerrito said. “New Jersey lost a great one.”

Though Gandolfini was best known for his screen work, he also dabbled in acting for the stage. In 1992, Gandolfini made his Broadway debut in a revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” then in 1995 in “On the Waterfront”

The Levoy Theater in Millville called Gandolfini’s death a “tremendous loss” for the theater and screen community.

“Being a New Jersey native and playing an iconic role like Tony Soprano as well as 'God of Carnage' on Broadway brought notoriety to his home state,” Levoy Theater officials released in a statement. “The Levoy and the local theater community are saddened by the loss of such an iconic actor.”

Gandolfini is survived by his son Michael, daughter Liliana and wife Deborah.